Exclusive-Anthropic planned, then abandoned $7 billion purchase of MatX, sources say

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 27 : According to two sources familiar with the matter, artificial intelligence startup Anthropic once contemplated acquiring AI chip company MatX for around $7 billion. The acquisition was intended to expedite the creation of specialized hardware for Anthropic's rapidly expanding AI operations. However, talks between the two companies have reportedly evolved into a partnership discussion rather than a definitive purchase.

One person mentioned that the talks have taken a different turn, while another stated that the matter remains unconfirmed. MatX, which was established by former Google tensor processing unit (TPU) engineers, is currently in the process of raising capital and estimates its valuation at approximately $4 billion. The reasons behind the termination of the deal talks are unknown, as Anthropic has declined to provide any information on the discussions, and MatX did not respond to requests for comment.